Brad Thomson wrote:
It's not only the data retention requirements that feature in this
type of software, but depending on the exact nature of what the
business does, ongoing funding compliance.
I have just come off the back of a painful 5 months facilitating the
introduction of an industry-specific, proprietary solution for a large
nursing home on the Central Coast, and have seen failure within the
software result in the business not being able to provide supporting
evidence for their funding claims for particular classes of residents.
I believe that we could have coded equivalent functionality, or
modified an existing package in a shorter timeframe than has proved
the case in working with the vendor to fix the problems, but
unfortunately we're not able to spend the tens if not hundreds of
thousands of dollars to ensure that we meet all legal obligations.
Again this is a finance thing between the nursing homes and the
government funders. The documentation relates to the level of care that
the nursing home patient requires and increasing levels attract
increasing funds. The formula covers areas such as dementia and
incontinence. Doctors regard most of this documentation as of limited
value to their clinical assessments.
The information doctors want and need is not dictated by government
legislation. Open source developers have a free hand. They just have to
keep the doctors happy.
David
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